Diving & Videography for a living

[harang]

On Being an Underwater Cinematographer

Here are some things to keep in mind about a career in u/w cinematography.
1. You are talking about a very small slice of a very specialized pie. Take a look around and ask yourself how many shows or documentaries that are on TV are about the u/w world? Not Many. And with the fragmentation of the media into broadcast, online, cable, etc. the budgets get smaller while the quality demands grow.

2. On these u/w shows or docs how much of the show is actually underwater? At best less than 50%. The rest of the story is shot above the water.

3. Because most “u/w” shows aren’t actually underwater you need camera, lighting, audio, producing, writing and editing skills. You need to have a proficiency in at least a couple of the above skills and an understanding of all of them.

4. You must be an awesome/experienced diver and shooter. The u/w world is unforgiving and if you don’t know how to stay alive at depth AND make great pictures then you won’t do either well. These skills are earned with time not bought in a class.

5. You also need to know something about business because in the end bean counters make the decision about whether to fund you and your project. Great ideas are a dime a dozen – selling them is the real skill. In my best years only about 20% of my income has come from u/w work. The rest of my work involves shooting footage for terrestrial clients.

6. Finally, build yourself a solid skill base. There are lots of ways to get to your goal. Most of them are probably ok but there aren’t any shortcuts. Find your niche and own it.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Very realistic picture of the underwater videographer business and thanks for your input.

 

[harang]

It seems that there are some who do not want to participate in this discussion but only come in to give negative input, then maybe they should start their own threads. It looks like some just read then butt in to give there 2 cents worth without making sense.

 

[muckdiver@mac.com]

Point taken, my apologies.

 

[johnnyballenscuba]

I too am a Digital media design who took up Diving of September of 2009. I created a new company called Evolving Creativity and created an online show/podcast called Talking Scuba. The show and the content we create both in an out of the water is fun and we gain better experience all the time. But it won't be my bread and butter, but icing on the cake. I use the company to showcase that we can do underwater cinematography as well as digital media/interactive production. There are so many professionals out there that have better equipment and experience just here in Michigan. With the arts its all about practice, networking, selling yourself, and then more practice and experience. I started my underwater video experience with a Kodak Easyshare in a bag system that was able to go no more than 60ft.
My show is made in Michigan, but I and my team shoot dive footage on almost every local dive and of course on every dive trip. I have been very lucky to have a team to work with and have a resource of experienced photographers to learn from. Keep networking and keep practicing.

Another company to check out is LiquidAssets.TV
I met the executive producer and one of the camera operators while we were promoting our show at the Chicago, IL Our World Underwater Expo and they gave us some really good tips on how to make our show better and the cinematographer more appealing.

 

[Roger J Munns]

For an insight into life as a resort videographer you can check out the video on the scubazoo job page. It shows a day in the life of a resort camerawoman. That might help anyone who's thinking of taking the plunge.